Driving America: The Henry Ford’s new exhibit examines the culture of cars in America

The Henry Ford Museum is transforming their automotive displays into something more than just about the cars themselves. Opening January 29, Driving America is billed as a “one-of-a-kind automotive experience” that focuses on “the enormous influence the automobile has had on American culture.”

The permanent exhibition reflects a big change for a car museum in that the focus is as much on the wholesale changes that ubiquitous automobile use brought to the United States in the 20th century as it is about the cars.

The exhibit is an ambitious re-imagining of the whole idea of a car museum, encompassing 80,000 square feet of space, 130 vehicles and 18 42-inch, interactive touchscreens designed to allow visitors to delve deeper into the subjects covered. A new feature of those touchscreens will allow people to save their own “custom collections” for viewing later at home or on a mobile device.

In addition to the cars, the Henry Ford has long had Lamy’s Diner, a mid-century roadside restaurant, on display, but it has been renovated and turned into a working diner where museum patrons can chow down on authentic diner food. Hash browns, eggs and coffee with your history lesson, anyone?

The Henry Ford does indeed have some spectacular cars in its collection, plenty of which were never manufactured under the auspices of the Blue Oval, such as an 1896 Duryea, the last known survivor of the first series production car made in the U.S, and the Bugatti Type 41 “Royale” Cabriolet Weinberger, which has been in the collection since the 1950s.

Steve Rsays:

December 29, 2011 4:28 pm

Jim Macdonaldsays:

December 29, 2011 5:22 pm

Actually this and 2 other stories on today’s blog tie together well. The Nebraska story where save-able cars were crushed for lack of buyers, the end of the race track at the Orange festival site, and this, a new kind of museum display. All of it seems to say the same thing, fewer of us are interested in cars for more than just current transportation.